


Graham Crackers (together we make a s’more)

by NeverlandPixie



Category: The Magicians (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26971558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NeverlandPixie/pseuds/NeverlandPixie
Summary: “I’ll always protect you.”“Promise?”“Pinky promise.”Or, Q and Jules through the years.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 6





	Graham Crackers (together we make a s’more)

**Author's Note:**

> This might look familiar. I’ve posted this before in a multi chapter story that are a bunch of drabbles, but looking through them again, a few of them deserve to be their own stand alone stories.
> 
> Trigger warning for slight self harm.

Quentin is terrified. His hands are shaking and he feels like he’s going to vomit, but he doesn’t stop walking. He keeps telling himself that he’s going to be okay, that nothing bad will happen.

After all, it’s only kindergarten.

He’s just recently turned five and for the past three weeks his parents have been telling him how much fun he’s going to have, that he’s going to learn all sorts of new things. And that he’s going to make lots of friends. He’s not entirely sure about that last one, but he’s going to try. The small classroom is full of vibrant colors and there’s letters on the walls, and there’s color charts on some of them as well. All of the other children are there, running around and introducing themselves and choosing where they’re going to sit.

Quentin chooses to sit at a table that’s in the back, he’s nervous and unsure but he manages to walk to the table without tripping over himself. A few other children eventually sit at the table with him but they don’t converse with him, clearly having already found their buddies for the rest of the year. He almost talks to one of the other boys at his table, but he chickens out. A few moments later their teacher comes in and tells them all to be quiet, that it’s time to learn. To him, it seems that he’s the only one who listens to her. That is, until he sees a girl in the very front of the classroom with her hands neatly folded in her lap, waiting for their teacher to begin the first lesson of the year.

The rest of the day is uneventful, until snack time. Their teacher hands out graham crackers to everyone as a treat, and before Quentin can even bite into his, it’s being taken from him. The boy who took it from him is slightly taller and he’s smirking at Quentin, as if asking him what he’s going to do about it. Of course, he does nothing. Just when all hope is lost, the girl he saw at the front of the class that morning is poking the boy in the back and glaring at him. “That’s not yours.”

They both look at her and the boy glares back. “Finders keepers.”

She crosses her arms and pouts angrily. “You didn’t find it, you stole it.”

Quentin wants to tell her that it’s fine, that it’s just a graham cracker and he can have it, but he’s to shocked too. The girl is pretty, he quickly realizes. Dark brown hair and light brown eyes. He can’t believe that she’s standing up for him. No one has ever stood up for him before.

He must have zoned out because now the other boy is stomping off and the girl is handing him the graham cracker. “Oh..thanks.”

The girl smiles at him and nods. “Trevor is dumb, don’t worry about him. I’m Julia Wicker. What’s your name?” She sits next to him and he gives her a small, shy smile.

“I’m Quentin Coldwater.” He waits for her to laugh at him, the sort of laughter that always comes when he introduces himself, but she just keeps on smiling.

“That’s a really cool name. If you want, we could be friends, and I could protect you and stuff.” Quentin almost says no because she’s a girl and he doesn’t want to be called a sissy but after a moment he nods.

“Okay.”

She beams at him and for the rest of the day they share crayons and when his parents come to get him, he’s over the moon excited to tell them all about his new friend.

* * *

When they’re ten, Julia gets braces. She cries for a whole hour because she thinks she looks ugly despite how many times Quentin tells her the opposite. She knows he’s not one to lie, but she still doesn’t believe him.

On Sunday, she goes over to his house and they spend the entire day in the treehouse that his father built, pretending that they’re in Fillory and that school was just a distant memory. Not even coming down for lunch, his mother had to put their sandwiches in a basket that had a rope attached to it so they could pull it up.

Unfortunately, school was not a distant memory and Julia had to leave a few hours later to make sure she was well rested, despite her protests that knights didn’t need sleep. Her mother’s counter argument was that knights do, in fact, need sleep, how else are they supposed to protect the citizens? To that, Julia begrudgingly agreed and waved goodbye to Quentin, telling him she’d see him tomorrow morning.

That was a lie. An accidental one, but still a lie. In the morning when he walks up the stairs, he expects Julia to be waiting for him like always but she’s not there so he has no choice but to walk in alone. He’s alone in homeroom for ten minutes before she walks through the door. He can tell by the redness of her eyes that she’s been crying and his heart stops. He wants to ask her what’s wrong as soon as he sees her but a sharp glare from their teacher stops him in his tracks. He stares at the clock for the rest of the forty five minutes and when the bell rings, Julia is already halfway out the door and he’s immediately running after her.

“Julia! Jules! Stop, wait up!” She doesn’t listen, and for a minute he’s distracted because, how is she so much faster than him? He immediately shakes the thought from his head and practically sprints to catch up with her and thankfully, he does. He’s panting and Julia is looking everywhere but his face. “J, what’s wrong? Why were you crying?”

“Not now, Quentin.” Her voice is a whisper and he frowns at her. It’s strange, almost scary to see her like this. Julia has never lacked confidence, and seeing her so insecure makes him worry. 

“But-“

“Hey, brace face!” He whips around to see a boy a year older then them cackling as if he hadn’t just used one of the most outdated phrases in the history of braces.

He glares at him and turns back to Julia who’s attempting to walk away and before he can grab her elbow the boy is taunting her again. “What’s the matter metal mouth? Can’t here me?” Julia keeps on walking and the boy whispers to his friends and they all laugh at whatever he said and then he’s crumpling up a piece of paper and sends it flying.

Right into the side of Julia’s head.

If you were to ask Quentin exactly what happened next, he really wouldn’t be able to tell you. All he knows is that one minute he was standing on one side of the hallway, and the next he’s standing over Julia’s bully, fist throbbing while the boy gapes up at him in shock.

When both sets of parents pick them up early from school, he can tell that though they’re angry, his dad is slightly proud that he stood up for Julia. And he’s proud too, the week of being grounded is totally worth it.

Until it isn’t. Later that night, he finds he misses Julia immensely and of course, he hatches an escape plan. As high king of Fillory, it’s his job to find his knight. Thankfully, said knight lives directly across the street. Making sure both of his parents are asleep, he goes into the kitchen to grab something from the pantry before quietly opening the back door and doing his best to sneak around front. When he’s in the clear, he sprints across the road and goes to the side of the Wicker house where he knows Julia’s room is. Lucky for him, her bedroom is on the first floor.

He has to knock a few times but eventually she comes to her window and slides it open, giving him space to climb into her room. He’s slightly breathless but he manages to smile at her and hold up a box. “Graham cracker?”

She tries to resist but she can’t help but to smile at him and nod, both of them sitting on her bed. “You didn’t have to punch him, you know.”

Quentin shrugs. “I know. But Dylan is a dick.”

She lets out a laugh at that and shakes her head, her curls bouncing slightly. “I’m supposed to be the knight, remember?”

He smiles at her. “I remember. But I want to protect you too, Julia.” She gives him a soft smile while breaking off a piece of a graham cracker. “I’ll always protect you, Jules.”

She looks up at him again. “Promise?”

He grins and holds out his pinky finger. “I pinky promise.”

She wraps her pinky finger around his and beams at him.

To Quentin, it’s like the sun just came out.

* * *

At fourteen, Quentin realizes he’s short for his age, despite having a growth spurt over the last year. He also knows he’s not the best looking. Which is why, when Alyssa Diaz asks him on a date, he almost faints from shock before sputtering out a yes.

When he tells her, Julia is reasonably skeptical, after all, Alyssa is one of, if not the most popular girl in school. Despite her skepticism, Julia is happy for him and she even offers to help him plan where to take her, but he tells her that she’s already worked out all the details. He doesn’t notice, but when he says that, Julia’s eyes squint ever so slightly but she doesn’t say anything, she could be wrong, maybe Alyssa is a nice girl and they’ll have a great time on their date.

She’s not. And they don’t.

He should’ve known, really. When things seem to good to be true, they usually are.

It started off okay, at least to him. They went to a movie and he bought the snacks and afterwards they decided to go to a small diner for milkshakes. He really should’ve seen it coming.

When four of their schools football players come in and start heading straight to their table, his throat becomes dry. Alyssa is smirking into her glass and Quentin has to force himself not cry, because that will only make everything worse.

Andrew, the quarterback has just made a joke about how he stupid he is but he isn’t listening because Alyssa is agreeing and laughing along with them. And then, Andrew is forcing him to stand and he’s picking up Quentin’s still full milkshake and is dumping it onto his head. Except, he’s not.

He doesn’t know how, and sure as hell doesn’t know when, but Julia is there, and her entire head and face is dripping from what he quickly realizes is the chocolate milkshake that was meant for him. Everyone, him included, is gaping at her.

It’s as if she doesn’t even know that there’s liquid dripping off her as she turns to Alyssa. “You may be pretty, but you have the ugliest heart I’ve ever seen, and one day, you’re going to be sorry for being such a terrible person.” And with that, she’s dragging Quentin out of the diner and into the parking lot.

Quentin is still registering what just happened as they walk down the sidewalk. “I-wha-how-Julia!”

She stops and gives him a small, slightly sad smile. “I sort of followed you. I heard Bryce and Andrew talking about their stupid plan after school on the bus and I was going to warn you but you weren’t home, so I asked your mom where you were and I followed you.”

“You..” He’s dumbfounded. He was still embarrassed, but she had stopped it from turning into a humiliating situation. “You took a milkshake for me.”

She laughs at that, wiping her face with one hand. “Quentin, I would take a bullet for you.” She says it with such sincerity that he finds himself tearing up. “I’ll always protect you.”

He smiles back, knowingly. “Promise?”

Her pinky finger is already wrapping around his. “Pinky promise.”

He grins at her and swipes some of the milkshake off her nose, licking his finger and making her laugh. “Come on,” She wraps her arm around his shoulder. “Let’s go make s’mores without the chocolate and the marshmallows.”

“J, that’s just graham crackers.”

She smirks at him and nods. “I know.”

* * *

Julia is the first to get her license and on her sixteenth birthday her parents give her their old car. Both she and Quentin are ecstatic because to them, a car equals freedom. It also means Julia can not only stop taking the bus, but she can drive Quentin to and from school as well so his parents no longer have too. The car is far from fancy but neither of them mind. Every morning and every night they blast their favorite songs and sing along completely off key while laughing until their stomachs hurt.

One night, Julia asks him to drive with her to the beach, even though it’s about an hour drive. He doesn’t understand why she wants to, but he of course goes with her. She doesn’t sing along to the radio this time, and after a while he falls silent and simply turns it off. When they get there, she gets out and walks towards the water and he simply follows behind her. For a minute, they just stare at the moon reflecting on the water and when he opens his mouth to say something, Julia screams.

He jumps in shock and says nothing as does she does it two more times. He’s been best friends with Julia Wicker for eleven years now, and he likes to think he know her better than anyone, but this. This is different. After the third time, she collapses on her knees into the sand and he sits next to her. He doesn’t ask what’s wrong, knowing she’ll simply tell him. “Collin hit me today.” Her voice is slightly raspier than usual, most likely from the screaming.

Collin. Julia’s boyfriend for the last six months. Quentin has never liked him, but he seemed to make Julia happy so he kept his mouth shut, but now he wishes he hadn’t. “He..what?” There’s a rage inside him threatening to build up but she continues speaking.

She doesn’t look at him, just keeps staring out at the ocean. “I caught him cheating and I confronted him. I was yelling at him and all of a sudden he just..slapped me. He apologized after but I broke up with him.”

Quentin nods, once. “Good.”

“I’ve never seen someone look so..so angry. He threatened me. Said I’d regret it.” Finally, she looks over and meets his eyes. “I’m scared, Q.”

He pulls her close and she leans her head on his shoulder. “If he tries anything, anything, I’ll beat the shit out of him.”

He can tell she’s crying because suddenly his shoulder is wet. “I really thought he loved me, Quentin. I really did. I’m so stupid.”

He brushes her hair away from her face. “You aren’t stupid, Jules. He’s stupid. You deserve so much more than someone who would willingly lay a hand on someone they claim to love.”

Silence falls around them again again until she speak. “You’ll always protect me, right?”

He nods. “I promise.”

They connect their pinky fingers. “Pinky promise.”

They watch the waves crash against the shore for another hour until they decide to go home. Quentin can’t help but chuckle when Julia tells him there’s a box of graham crackers in the glove department. For the entire ride, they sing songs written about terrible men.

* * *

At nineteen years old, Julia is already exhausted from college, which is why she drives an hour to visit Quentin at his dorm, picking up Chinese food on the way. He gave her an extra key so she simply walks up the door and unlocks it, pushing it open. “Hey, so, I’m being absolutely murd-“ she freezes in place when she sees Quentin, sitting on his bed, with a razor blade on his arm looking like a deer caught in headlights. “What the fuck? Quentin!” She’s running and grabbing the blade from his hand, not caring that she cuts her finger while doing so. He’s crying and apologizing and she runs to his bathroom to grab a towel and presses it over the cuts.

They aren’t deep, thank god, and they stop bleeding after a few minutes. “Q..what did you do?”

He’s crying and shaking his head. “I wasn’t trying to kill myself, I swear. I just..this makes the pain stop sometimes.”

“Oh, Quentin..” She gently takes his hands, intertwining their fingers. “I didn’t know it had gotten to this point. Q, you have to tell someone.”

He sniffles and nods. “I know, I know. I will, I swear.” For the next half hour he tells her how stressed he’s been, how the depression was really starting to get to him and he had only started doing this last month. Julia asks if there’s any other things he’s been harming himself with and though he says no, Julia checks every inch of his room to make sure, then she flushes the razor blade.

“Q, I love you, so much..if you don’t tell someone, I’m going to.”

He hiccups and simply nods. “I’ll tell the campus psychiatrist tomorrow.”

“Okay. Okay, that’s good.” She cleans the small cuts for him and puts bandaids on the ones that need them. She puts on a movie and lets him rest his head on her lap while she plays gently with his hair. “I’m always going to protect you Quentin Coldwater, even if I have to protect you from yourself.”

He’s quiet but he lifts his hand up, silently asking the question. She wraps her pinky finger around his and kisses the palm of his hand. “I pinky promise.”

* * *

Now, while she’s sleeping on the sofa in the physical kids cottage, he feels a pang go through his chest. He puts the book about the seven keys on the table and carefully covers her with a blanket, doing his best not to wake her. He notices with a large sadness that the only time she looks remotely relaxed is when she’s asleep, and even then it doesn’t always last, nightmares slipping in from time to time. He gently moves her hair from her face and sighs. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t protect you, Jules.”

And with that, instead of going up to his room, he decides to crash on the other sofa, just in case she needs him. He wasn’t able to protect her from Reynard, but he’ll protect her from the nightmares. He’ll make damn sure of that.

In the morning, for breakfast, they share a box of graham crackers. And there’s no promise, because they can’t promise anything anymore, but for the hell of it, just because they can, they connect their pinky fingers together and when it makes her smile, he breathes a little easier.


End file.
